Hay-loader.



. No. 888,527. PATENTED MAY 26, .1888.

A. OTTO, JR.

HAY LOADBR.

APPLICATION rILnn mum. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

AUGUST OTTO, JR, OF SANDWICH, ILLINOIS.

HAY-LOADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May as, 1908.

Application filed March 9, 1907. SeriaINo. 361,454.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, AUGUST OTTO, Jr, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of- Sandwich, county of Dekalb, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Loaders, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The invention relates to devices for gathering hay from .the field, and for elevating it and discharging it upon a wagon.

The object ofthe invention is to simplify and improve the construction and operation of devices of this kind, whereby they are rendered less expensive to build, and are made to consume less power in operation without sacrificing their durability or efficiency.

The invention contemplates a wheeled frame adapted to be attached to the rear of a wagon to be loaded and having an inclined chute or deck leading from a point adjacent the ground at the rear of the wagon to a point above the wagon bed, and a plurality of rakes movable over the ground at the foot of the chute and into and through the chute.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a hay loader embodying the invention, and shows in side elevation a detail of a wagon to be loaded thereby; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of the loader viewed from the line 33'0f Fig. 1 Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate details of construction of the loader; Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the loader; and Fig. 7 is a sectional detail taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

The frame 10 of the form of loader illustrated in the drawings for the purpose of exemplifying the invention, is mounted upon carrying wheels 11 and 12. Each of these carrying wheels is connected by a ratchet hub mechanism 13, of usual construction and shown in detail in Fig. 7, to a rotating axle 14 extending from side to side of the frame 10, and journaled in boxes 15, 16, carried by the frame.

The device is preferably drawn by the wagon to be loaded, and to that end an eye 17 is provided at the forward end of the frame 10, and. is adapted to be engaged by a hook 1S, permanently secured at the rear of the bed of a wagon 19. A frame 20, which customarily takes the form ofa ladder, is mounted at the rear of the wagon 19 for s 1pporting its load, and in practice the Wagon may be loaded with a device provided by the invention without removing this ladder.

Upright members 21, 22, rise from the frame 10, one adjacent each side, and when the device is in loading position these members are preferably but slightly inclined from the vertical. Cross members 23 connect the uprights 21, 22, at intervals, and braces 24, 25, are secured to the uprights intermediate their ends and to the frame 10, and each of the braces is continued below the frame, as indicated at 26, to provide a supporting leg for the device when it is detached from the wagon 19.

An inclined deek 27, preferably comprising a plurality of longitudinal slats 28 united at intervals by. cross members 29, is supported by the upright members 21, 22, and leads from a pointadjacent the ground between the carrying wheels 11 and 12' to the top of the ladder 20 carried by the wagon, when the device is in loading position. As shown the deck 27 is secured to the upright members 21, 22 by bars 30, each of which is provided with a plurality of bolt-receiving a 'ertures 31, most clearly shown in Fig. 5. lats 32 extend longitudinally over the deck 27 and slats 33 are provided at each side of the deck to form an inclosed trough'or chute 34, leading from the ground to a point above the Wagon-bed to be loaded, the deck 27 being the floor of the chute.

Each of th'e slats 32 is of greater length than the deck 27, and is secured at its top to a cross member 23 uniting the uprights 21, 22, at a point considerably above the top of the deck 27. At the foot of-thechute 34 each of the slats 32 is secured to the forward end of a curved strap 35, which extends horizontally over the ground to a cross-bar 36 at the rear of the frame 10.

A plurality of rake-bars 37 are provided for gathering hay from the ground etween the carryin wheels 11 and 12, and carrying it upwarrfiy through the chute 34. As shown, the rake-bars 37 are substantially equal in len th to the width of the machine, and are gut geoned at each end to the links of a sprocket chain 38, 39, each of which turns over sprockets 40 and 41 adjacent the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the chute 34. Each of the sprockets 40 turns in a journal bearing 42 ad ustably secured by bolts 43 to one of the uprights 21, 22, and the sprockets 41 are mounted u on a shaft 44, extendin the entire width oft emac'hii in, mid journaled at 45, 46, in the frame 10 at the rear of the mouth of the chute 34. The shaft 44 is driven by gears 47', 48, fromthe rotating axle 14, and the sprockets 40' and. 41 are so dis-v 5 posed that the rake bars 37, carriedby the sprocket chains 38, 39, aredrawn over the ground adjacent the mouth of the' chute 34 and outwardly over the slats 32, the teeth of the rake-bars extending between the slats into the chute.

Provision is made for preventing the rotation of the rake bars 37 in their bearings on the sprocketchainsBS, 39, as they are drawn over the ground and upwardly through the 5 chute. To this end a guide-bar 49, carried by the cross-members 23 uniting the upright frame members 21, 22, extends longitudinally over the slats 32, preferably about midway of the width of the machine. At its lower end this bar is continued over the horizontally-disposed straps which'fo'rm a continuation of the slats 32, by a curved guide or cam member 50, which is hinged to the foot of the guide 49 at 51, its free end being yield- 25 ingly supported by a spring 52, reacting u on an apertured bearing-block 53, which rides on the shaft 44. The tension of the spring 52 may be adjusted by a winged nut 54 bearing upon the block 53 and having a threaded 3o engagement with aro'd 55, about which the spring is coiled ,and which is pivotally united to the cam member 50 at 56. rake bars 37 is provided'with a shoe 57 which extends backwardly at an angle from the 1., rake bar andis adapted to ride beneath'the.

. cam member50 an the guide 49 to support Ithej'ake bar in operative osition.

, Inusejthe device will e drawn over the field at the rear ofa wagon to be loaded, 40 prewar being applied to the driving shaft 44 em the carrying Wheels 11 and 12 to cause.

the sprocket chains 38, 39, to travel in the di rection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1.. As each of the rake-bars 37, carried by the 45 sprocket chains 38, 39, begins to move forwardly over the'ground at the limit of its downward travel, the teeth of the rake bar projecting between the straps35, the cam sho'e 57 carried by the rake-bar comes into engagement With the cam-member 50 to maintain the rake-bar in such a'position that wits teeth ar'e substantiall' perpendicular to the ground. As the mac inc.advances over the ground, any material coming in contact 5'5 with the teeth of its rake-bars is carried forwardly andupwardly through the chute-34,

. the cam hoe 57-of each of the rake-bars riding beyciid the end of the guide-member 49 when the to of the chute is reached, and 6,0 thus permitting the rake-bar to swing downgward y and its teeth to be withdrawn from the materiakwhich they carry as the sprocket chains turn over the sprocket wheels 40' at thelit-op of the machine. I g B5 The deck 27 or floor of the chute 34, with length.

Each of the- .dicular to the deck front ofthe deck adjacent each end of the deck, a chain turning over the sprockets, a

the slats 33 forming the sidesof the chute, may be moved toward or away from the slats 32 forming the cover of the chute b dju tingthe length of-thc bars 30, as shown in Fig.

5. The capacity of the chute may thus be adapted to the crop. By reason of the slats 3'2 and 3 being extended"beyond the upper end of the deck 27, material which accumulated at the top of the chute will he pushed forwardly over the upper end of the deck 27 into the wagon to be loaded as the rake-bars 37 advance througl'l the chute. 'lhe slats 32 serve to strip the material from the teeth of the rake-bar's they turn over the rockets 40 at the top of the machine, and tliere is therefore no tendency for material to be carried down after it hasonce been dcliv-" ered to the top of the machine.

if desired the mouth of the chute 34 may be adjusted in width withoutchanging the depth. of the chute throughout its entire To this end the deck 27 is made sectional, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2, the lower end .58 of the deck being hinged at 59.

.The hinged member '58 may be secured in any ad usted posltion by a strap 60, pivotally secured to one of the side members of the frame 10 at 61, and slotted at 62 to receive a clamping bolt 63, carried by the member 58. 'lheteeth ofthe rake-bars 37 may be made. to engage the stubble with greater or less force by ad usting the tension of'the spring 52, which bears upon the cam member 50. I claim as my 1nvent1on- 1. In a hay loader, in combination, an inelined wheel-supported frame, a pair of parallel sprocket chains movable longitudinally of t e frame, arake-head having rigid teeth andbein j-ournaled in the two chains,

- aguide-bar for hol'ding the rake-head against angular movement during its upward travel and being yleldmg at its lower end, such guide terminating at the upper end of the frame, the head being free to swing upon disengagen'lont from the guide bar.

2. In a hay loader, in combination; a wheeled frame comprising an inclined deck, a sprocket wheel turning in a plane perpenjournaled in the frame in rake-bar rotatably mounted on the chain, a'

deck and rearwardly at the baseof the deck, the horizontal part of the guide-way being yielding, and a cam shoe carried by the rakebar and extending backwardly therefrom for engaging the guide.

3. In a hay loader, in combination, an inclined deck, endless chains running over the deck, rotatable rake bars carried by the chains, a substantially horizontal guide proguide-waycxtending longitudinally over the jcctiug from the lower end of the deck and 4 engaging the rake-bars-to prevent their rotatlon, such guide being hinged at its inner'end,

and a spring bearing downwardly on the guide.

4. In a hay loader, in combination, an inclined deck, slats supported over the deck to form a chute and extending beyond the higher end of the deck, gathering means delivering to the foot of the chute and movable upwardly through the chute, and means for chute, and means for uniformly adiusting the depth of the chute throu hout its ength. 6. In a hay loader, in com ination, a deck having hay-carrying slatsyrakes, means for carrying the rakes over the deck and in a path parallel therewith, and means for adjusting the slats to vary the distance between them and the plane of movement of the rakes.

7. In a hay loader, in combination, an inclined deck, an endless carrier traveling over the deck, rake-bars swingingly mounted on the carrier, a guide parallel with the deck for holding the rakebars in operative position, such guide having a baekwardly directed yielding extension at its lower end.

AUGUST OTTO, JR.

Witnesses:

S. P. SEDGWICK, J. E. WHITE. 

